Phytochemical Studies And Antioxidant Properties Of Four Medicinal Plants Used In Cameroon

Abstract

Four plants (Amphimas pterocaroides, Harungana madagascariensis, Myrianthus arboreus, and Cussonia barteri) that are commonly used in Cameroon for the management or reversal of anaemia were screened for their phytochemical content and antioxidant potential. Four extracts (methanolic, hydro-ethanolic, aqueous, and hydrolysed) from each of the plants were prepared and analysed. Qualitative phytochemical tests were used to detect the presence of alkaloids, tannins, saponins, flavonoids, glycosides and phenols, while three quantitative methods; Folin, Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP) and diphenyl-1, 2-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) were used to determine the antioxidant potential of these extracts. With the exception of the extracts of Cussonia barteri (negative for triterpenes and phenols) and the aqueous extract of Harungana madagascariensis (negative result for cardiac glycosides and glycosides), all other extracts contained the phytochemicals tested. The highest antioxidant activities were observed in the hydrolysed extracts of each plant, while the aqueous extract showed the least activity irrespective of the method used. The presence of active phytochemical substances with antioxidant activities may provide substantial basis for the use of these plants in ethnomedicine.

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“…The observed effects may be as a result of the extract stimulating erythropoiesis to increase the production of red blood cells 48 and the presence of antioxidant agents such as flavonoids which are able to lower lipid peroxidation and hence prevent haemolysis of red blood cells. This finding supports the traditional use of M. arboreus in the management of anaemia 11 .…”

“…Decoctions prepared from the bark of the plant are used in the management of diabetes 9,10 . M. arboreus has been shown to possess antimicrobial, antiamoebic, antitubercular and antioxidant activities 11,12 which supports some of its uses in traditional medicine.…”

The Protective Effect of Amphimas pterocarpoides Plant Extract on Bone Mineral Density and Strength in Estrogen Deficient Ovariectomized Wistar Rats

“…Some of these isolated isoflavonoids such as daidzein, clycitein and formononetin have proven anabolic effect on bone metabolism and they prevent bone loss [20,32,[34][35][36][37]. A good correlation between the content of AP extract in isoflavones and its antioxidant activity has already been described [10,11] while the role of oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of osteroporosis is well established [38,39].…”

“…Various preperations of Amphimas pterocarpoides (AP), a large deciduous tree belonging to the family of Leguminosae, are traditionally used for the treatment of several conditions such as abortion, dysmenorrhoea and impotence, mainly on empirical grounds, and little was known so far about its composition and its properties [10,11]. Based on a recent phytochemical analysis of AP extract, our team detected the presence of 11 different isoflavonoids with strong estrogenic activity [12,13].…”

Hepatoprotection of 1β-hydroxyeuscaphic acid – the major constituent fromRubus aleaefoliusagainst CCl4-induced injury in hepatocytes cells

“…Euscaphic acid was evaluated for the hepatoprotective activity by measuring the effect on the oxidative stress status of liver, induced by carbon tetrachloride, in albino rats and in liver homogenate in vitro that it displayed hepatoprotective activity comparable to oleanolic and ursolic acids (Marzouk, 2009). Myrianthic acid and tomentic acid, two triterpene acid had the highest observed antioxidant activities (Biapa et al, 2007). Chinese herbals have been attracting more attention in recent years because of complementary therapeutic effects to western medicines, and many essential problems that have not yet been solved by conventional medicinal practices (Xing et al, 2012).…”